Regina's Blog

The first time I learned about empathy was when I was taking graduate classes in counseling. We practiced listening and responding with empathy. Empathy
is the ability to understand where someone else is coming from. Empathy and sympathy are two different reactions. Sympathy is feeling sorry for someone
else's misfortune. Active listening and responding with empathy are skills which can be learned. When you listen and respond with empathy it communicates
to the other person that you are really paying attention to what they are saying. You are also paying attention to their visual language and their
tone of voice. During the past five months, I have been interacting with hospice professionals. Hospice professionals interact with dying people and
their families every day. Their empathy is incredible, so much better than mine. It’s hard for me to understand what it must be like facing death.
I imagine that a dying person has mixed emotions, scary on the one hand and peace on the other. I remember when my mother in law was dying of pancreatic
cancer, she told me that she was ready to die but the dying process was really getting to her. Watching a loved one suffer and lose their ability to
function is heart wrenching. It’s also physically and mentally exhausting for the caregiver(s). This morning I found my 90-year-old father, who is
slowly dying of COPD, at my back door with the door wide open yelling for help. When I found him, my empathy did not kick in. I was more focused on
his safety. I should try to be more empathetic, my excuse is that I’m tired and sick of being tired. The past few months have given me a brand new
respect for anyone who has ever been a caregiver.

One of the reasons that it’s so easy to talk about the customer experience is because we are all customers. It doesn’t matter where you live, how much
money you make, what kind of job you have, or what school you graduated from, we are all customers with unique experiences. Hopefully you have had
more good experiences than bad ones. During my lifetime, I have had a few unbelievable, unforgettable customer experiences.

Most employers would love for their employees to behave as if they were part of a high-performance team. A team who shares the same goals, supports each
other, resolves conflict in a timely manner and has each other's back. One of the easiest ways to be perceived as a team player instead of an individual
contributor is to adjust your language. Instead of saying, I did this and I need that replace the I with we - we need this and we need that to complete the project on time. It’s such a small change that can have a huge impact.When I think of a high performance
work team, a NASCAR pit crew comes to mind. Everyone in the pit crew has a specific job to perform using specific tools but no one job is more important
than the other. The power of the team is that they function as we instead of me.

Champions perform well under pressure and win. They prepare themselves to be in peak physical and psychological condition. They face their competition
head on and go for it, no holding back. In business, having the mindset of a champion will help you reach your strategic goals and be competitive.

Everyone is collecting data today and trying to figure out ways to improve the customer experience. There is even a Customer Experience Professional Association
which offers a certification program for individuals who want to be certified as customer experience professionals.